Hi, I'm Mike born in 1962 and raised here in Eastern Iowa. I've been married to my wife Ann for 30 years this coming August 23rd. I'm a Journeyman Glazier and my wife is a Homemaker. We don't have any children except for many fur-babies. Since we got married and I bought Ann a Doberman pup for a wedding present we've had another Doberman, a Chihuahua, 3 Rotties, 2 Huskys, a Beagle, a Beagle/Jack Russell mix, a Pekinese, a Rat Terrier, and now the pair of Pittbulls we adopted last Monday. Along with the dogs we've had 5 cats. All of them were either Strays, Rescues, Castoffs, or Adoptions except for both Dobermans and 1 of the Rotties. All of them would still be with us but God decided it was time for a few of them to "go home". Anyway, we never really said "hey I want one of these". The 1st Doberman, Spike" was a wedding gift to my new Bride and 2 years later we got Zippy to keep him company. A Doberman was chosen because my Best Friend had one and we loved Sam so there you go. Ringo, the 1st Rottie was another gift to my Wife celebrating our 15th Anniversary. A Rottie was chosen because our nextdoor neighbor's girlfriend had one named "Grissy". Grissy would stay with us while Laura was away to college so we had her more than Laura did! After Laura graduated, we had to have our own. On to our newest babies, the Pittbulls, Butters and Sassy. We weren't looking to adopt another dog, we still have Lily the female Husky, Riley the Beagle/Jack Russell mix, and Leah the Rat Terrier. We certainly like Pittbulls, we've got friends and neighbors with them and we enjoy them. Owning one just never crossed our minds. So, last Saturday evening I'm on Craigslist looking at stuff like I occasionally do to pass the time and came across an ad titled "Homeless Veteran needs your help". Being the sucker I am to help a person in need I read the ad stating basically he has a pair of Pittbulls that he can't take care of anymore because he's homeless and moving to Colorado to try to improve his situation. This ad haunted me all night and so Sunday we talked about it and decided since my wife is home all day and we have the means and we can help we'd give him a call which I did. He came over on Monday to check us out and make sure we were responsible and able to adequately care for them. He grilled us on the responsibility of Pittbull ownership and told us his sad story. He went back to where he was staying and brought the dogs back to meet us and our dogs which actually went well considering the Rat Terrier is a total B**** and tried letting Butters and Sassy know it! So here we are, new Pittbull owners! They are from the same litter, born on August 30th, 2008. Butters is a yellow male with a red nose and Sassy is a brown female with white socks and chest. They are the biggest babies and lovebugs! totally housetrained and know basic commands. We can tell they were raised well and loved very much. Of couse now we have questions regarding the breed and behavioral traits which is why I'm here.

Like I mentioned in my intro, we adopted a pair of 6 year old siblings. They were raised together and have no history of aggression at all. We've had them for 3 weeks now and she's attacked her brother 5 times and other than keep them separated, we don't know what to do. We think we have it figured out when they're gonna fight, it's always when they're all excited from going outside or basically anytime they're all fired up. We want to find out what actually triggers it so we can stop it. It breaks our heart to see them try to tear each other up and to have to keep them apart because they're so bonded. They actually whine for each other when separated. They are such good dogs and show absolutely no aggression towards us. The first time it happened we assumed it was just anxiety from being re-homed and also being separated from their previous owner but now we aren't so sure. We also talked to their previous owner about this and he told us he really has no idea because he's never encountered this before. Help!

Well you are dealing with a couple problems here, littermate syndrome is common in this situation, raising pups together makes them super dependent and freak out when apart. Nothing you can really do but I would keep them apart and spend a good amount of time training and exercising them to keep them calmer and worn out. It takes very little to trigger a fight with most pit bulls, low impulse control, they amp up fast. At my house we don't allow super crazy play, only one dog out in the yard at a time, no crowding spaces, bullying each other allowed, toys, treats and food only given when the dogs are separated.

Generally once dogs start fighting, it's better to separate, the more the behavior is repeated and practiced, the more injuries and better they will be at it. They are also going to be in a state of high stress after a fight, which can lead to more fights right after. Let them calm down a few weeks apart and contact a good bully breed knowledgeable trainer or behaviorist to help you out.

Thanks for the help "Postal"! We've kept them separate since the last fight and we've always fed them apart. The exercise part is a little tough right now cause I'm in Iowa and our weather has been total crap since November. I've been trying to find a local behaviorist but I'm having trouble there too. Any suggestions where to look? My vet wasn't much help.